


Healing

by wandofhawthorn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Coping, F/F, F/M, Friendship, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-15
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-18 17:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandofhawthorn/pseuds/wandofhawthorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A party for returning eighth years allow three girls to begin healing a year after the Battle of Hogwarts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the fic exchange for hpfanfictionprompts on tumblr. The original prompt from [extrasteps](http://extrasteps.tumblr.com) was: "Towards the end of seventh year, a huge party is thrown in the new and improved room of requirement. There is loud music and a dancefloor, endless cocktails with ridiculous names, a long table laden with party food, and a few hidden nooks. No canon pairings allowed! Be creative!"
> 
> So I got creative. 
> 
> ...and angsty. (For the record, I don't claim to be an expert on PTSD.)
> 
> Not beta'd or britpicked. Apologies for any glaring mistakes.

Surviving war makes people do strange things. Some become catatonic, despite lack of injury, living their day-to-day lives as little more than vegetables simply because they can't cope. Others throw themselves into their chosen tasks, hoping that constant activity will distract them from the tragedy. Others still cling to denial -- if they refuse to remember, then it didn't happen, right?

Parvati Patil fell into the second group. When she had returned to repeat her seventh year after the Battle of Hogwarts, she hadn't realized what that would mean. Lavender had been by her side for seven full years before she was ripped from life by a deranged werewolf on the worst night of Parvati's life. She shuddered. No need to reminisce now. But exams were over, and she didn't have anything left to occupy her time.

She needed a project. One that Lavender would've approved of. And there was one thing that could always cheer Lavender up.

***

ANNOUNCING:

To celebrate the end of the term and the chance to finally cut loose,

the returning Eighth years are invited to a PARTY!

Saturday, June 5th at 9pm

Room of Requirement

***

Hermione Granger wasn't sure how she felt about a party. She had spent the year with Ginny or in the library, so the idea of spending an entire evening in the company of people she didn't much care for seemed silly. And Hermione didn't do silly. Not well, anyway.

"Parvati, I was wondering if I could ask you a question?" Hermione wrung her hands together as she approached the other Gryffindor girl in the common room.

"What's that, Hermione? Are you coming to the party?" Parvati seemed overly enthusiastic about the idea -- she even _wanted_ her to come? Didn't she have a reputation of being a party pooper?

"Well, that depends -- could I bring Ginny and Luna along?"

Parvati chewed on her lip in consideration before answering. "I suppose that's okay. I don’t want it to get overrun with a bunch of the young ones, but some seventh years might not be a bad idea. The more the merrier, right?” She smiled brightly. Hermione didn’t really know how to respond. It had hardly been a merry year. “I don't suppose you could convince Harry and Ron to come visit for the weekend?" she added hopefully.

"They're busy," Hermione responded truthfully. "Auror training -- you know how it is."

***

Daphne Greengrass had kept her head low for nine months, refusing to acknowledge the actions of her uncle during her eighth year. Being the niece of Antonin Dolohov didn't do much for one's reputation when he was on the losing side. Astoria had told her she was being silly -- no one could hold that against her. But she had seen how the others were treated; how Theo and Draco had been cast aside when their fathers were imprisoned. Plus Astoria didn't wake in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat and a raspy voice, still screaming.

Better to keep a low profile. She was lucky being the only returning Slytherin girl; she didn't wake anyone else with her nightmares. She spent most of her evenings staring at the ceiling of her dormitory, completely exhausted but still terrified to go to sleep. She could hear the screams of her classmates whenever she closed her eyes.

But now the year was at an end, and she deserved a break. The parchment had appeared under the door when she left for breakfast, and a party sounded like just the right thing. Besides, it wasn’t like it could hurt anything.

***

The night of the 5th arrived with eager anticipation. Parvati had been hard at work in the Room of Requirement, making sure the space was able to provide exactly what she envisioned. Three days of preparation, and it was finally ready.

By ten o'clock, the Room was full of almost every single student that had chosen to return for an eighth year, in addition to a couple seventh years. Parvati was pleased -- it was a decent turnout so far.

She grabbed a Butterbeer from a hovering tray nearby and made a quick survey of the area. The latest Weird Sisters single rattled the room, causing most of the guests to speak loudly or into their companion's ear. Three Hufflepuffs sat in an alcove with smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes. She saw Terry Boot staring down at his plate of food with a blank stare, as if he'd forgotten what he was supposed to do with it. Luna Lovegood swayed in the middle of the dance floor, completely alone.

A cluster of balloons rose above the main table of food. Nearby, Ernie Macmillan gestured with an empty toothpick, a half-chewed mushroom visible in his open mouth. A moment later, the toothpick made contact with a balloon, and the resultant _pop_ was made louder by a break in the music.

***

Daphne found herself shaking under a table with her arms pulling her legs to her chest. Blinking back angry and embarrassed tears, she rested her eyes on her knees. This wasn't supposed to happen anymore. She hadn't had a flashback in months. Nightmares, yes, but not a full blown flashback. She shook with the image of a bleeding fifth year Gryffindor behind her eyelids. She'd been a fool to come to the stupid party after all.

Shuffled steps nearby made her look up. A hand appeared in her line of vision, followed quickly by a kind face -- one she didn't immediately recognize.

"Shhh, you're alright," the boy murmured in a thick Irish accent, still offering his hand.

Daphne let him pull her from under the table, and she quickly wiped at her eyes. "How embarrassing."

"Nah, you weren't the only one. I was under then next table." He stated it as if it were just a fact, as if he were simply talking about the weather instead of reacting so severely to something as silly as a popped balloon.

Daphne just blinked.

"You're Daphne Greengrass, right?"

"Yes. Should I know your name? I -- I don't pay much attention to other people." She looked down at her fingers that had twisted themselves together nervously. She felt vaguely grateful to the boy, but she hated being indebted to anyone.

"Seamus," he answered. "I'm in Gryffindor." He held out a hand of short, stubby fingers, and it occurred to Daphne that she shouldn't be interested. She should thank him as quickly as possible and be on her way. Instead, she slipped her hand into his and smiled.

***

Hermione glanced around the room, her eyes landing on the random pairings of people. Dean Thomas and Luna Lovegood were concealed in a nearby alcove, and Hermione did a double take. That was… unexpected. Although, they had spent quite a bit of time together at Shell Cottage. Hermione shook her head. She didn’t want to think about that.

Across from her, Neville Longbottom had his arms wrapped around two younger girls who had obviously crashed the party. They couldn’t have been older than fifteen. Neville’s social status had skyrocketed since… well, since the events of the previous year. Hermione wrinkled her nose. She refused to think about any of that tonight.

A tray of shots floated past her, and she grabbed one, downing it quickly. The Firewhiskey burned her throat on the way down. Alcohol could help her forget, right? Wasn’t that one of the side effects?

"Careful, Granger, you'll hurt yourself doing that," came a voice from over her shoulder. She turned to find Draco Malfoy standing behind her.

"What's it to you?" she asked, defensively sliding her arms across her chest.

"Wouldn't want you to choke in the presence of a Death Eater, now would we?" Malfoy's posture was slumped, as if he wanted to cave in on himself. He had lost the arrogance that Hermione had always associated with the pureblood. She almost wished he would call her a name, just so she could convince herself that everything was back to normal.

Hermione gave him a tight lipped smile. "Still throwing yourself a pity party, are you?"

"Wouldn't you?" Malfoy asked, invading Hermione's personal space. His breath smelled strongly of alcohol. "I know what they say about me, Granger. It's been a fucking year, and I still get sidelong glances in the hall. The younger students will flee when I come into the library. I'm a _leper_."

His eyes were frantic as they searched hers, and Hermione quelled the urge to grab his face just to see if it would make him calm down.

***

Parvati slipped from the room. Breathing had become difficult, as if the air in the party was too thick to take into her lungs. She had forgotten how much Lavender loved this kind of thing. She could almost hear her voice, praising her on a job well done. The fact that she couldn’t hear it as clearly as a year ago brought tears to her eyes. She missed her so much it hurt. She leaned against the cool stone wall, listening to the muffled heavy beat of the music.

"Are you okay?"

Parvati's eyes snapped open. A Ravenclaw, one of her sister's friends -- Mandy maybe? Her last name was something ridiculously long and English sounding, but Parvati couldn't recall it -- was looking at her with concern clear in her expression. Parvati just nodded.

"I'm heading to the kitchens to see if I can find some chocolate ice cream, if you'd like to join me," Mandy offered. She held out a slim hand.

Parvati stared at it for a second, surprised. Most of the school had known about her and Lavender's 'casual friendship', but most looked at it as nothing more than that. Mandy's offer struck a little closer to home.

The butterbeer was making her feel warm inside, so she slipped her fingers into Mandy's and let her lead her down the hall.

***

"It's my birthday, you know," Malfoy whispered into Hermione's ear. She had managed to get him onto a couch, leaning heavily against her. "Happy fucking birthday to me." He reached over and wrapped his fingers tightly around her wrist.

"Language, Malfoy," Hermione replied halfheartedly. She patted his hand, and his fingers gripped even tighter.

"Who would've thought I'd be spending it with you." It was said without malice. Malfoy just sounded defeated.

Hermione frowned. "Don't act like it's a punishment," she said. "There are worse things to be doing on your birthday than this." She curled her fingers around his in an attempt to pry them off, but it was no use.

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Like camping in the middle of Essex while you're being hunted by Death Eaters," she muttered. As much as she would rather forget about her own 18th birthday, she couldn’t.  

Malfoy visibly flinched. The grip on her arm eased a bit. She glanced over at him -- his eyes were wide and childlike, and he was staring at her as if he'd never seen her before.

***

Seamus pulled her into a corner of the room, away from the curious stares of the other partygoers. Daphne had been so careful to avoid attention throughout the year, and she had ruined it in less than a minute. They would all be whispering now.

"You alright?" he asked quietly, placing a hand on her arm. She didn’t flinch back from the touch like she expected -- it usually took her much longer to recover from her flashbacks, but then, she was usually alone.

"Yeah," she lied. "I'll be fine."

Seamus peered at her. "You can tell me the truth, you know. You're not alone in this."

"And what, you're going to help me? Be my knight in shining armor?" She wasn’t about to accept help from a Gryffindor with a hero complex. Solitude was the only thing she needed. She could get through this by herself. The hand withdrew from her arm, and she realized immediately that she wanted it back.

"It helped me knowing that I wasn't the only freak around here," he said, spitting out 'freak' as if it were a curse word. "You'd be surprised how many of us are dealing with this shite. We're all messed up -- don't act like it's just you."

Daphne took a step back. No one had really confronted her like that before. Astoria brushed it off as if she was being silly. Her mother completely ignored it, as if having a daughter that had nightmares was like having a squib child. Her chin wobbled, and she watched Seamus' face dissolve behind her tears.

“Hey, shhh, don’t cry,” he said quietly. “It’ll be okay.”

Falling forward, she buried her face in Seamus' shoulder. She felt his arms wrap tentatively around her thin frame (she really had lost too much weight this year, but it had been easier to completely avoid the Great Hall during meal times). One hand came up to cradle the back of her head, and he held her to his chest.

***

Parvati's fingers tangled in Mandy's curls as they stood behind a suit of armor. The Gryffindor had initiated it, pulling the taller girl into the shadows and pressing her lips to the smooth skin of Mandy's neck. She was not refused.

Pushing the thought of straight blonde hair out of her mind, Parvati pulled back to meet Mandy's eyes.

"Okay?" she breathed.

Mandy nodded, and Parvati pressed back in without a second thought.

***

"I-- I'm--"

"Don't bother apologizing, Malfoy, not now," Hermione said. She had twisted her hand around in his grip to try to break it, but she found herself palm to palm with the blond.

He frowned, as if didn't realize that's what he was about to do. Looking down at their clasped hands, his expression softened. "I was a stupid kid."

"We're all stupid kids. Present tense," Hermione answered. An awkward silence settled over the pair as they both stared at their hands. Desperate for a distraction, Hermione grabbed another shot of Firewhiskey as a tray drifted past, downing it in one gulp. She didn't sputter this time.

"Well done, Granger," Malfoy said, and the serious tone left the conversation. "A couple more and you'll have caught up with me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Might be." Malfoy grabbed at the tray before it could get away, placing it on a low table. He handed Hermione a shot and took one for himself with a grin. "Bottoms up."

***

"C'mon," Seamus whispered into Daphne's hair. "Deep breaths, love." He ran a hand up and down her back, and her shaking lessened.

Her arms had found their way around Seamus' waist, and she found she didn't want to let go. Seamus was warm, strong, and not shrinking away from her outburst. It was the first time she had felt comforted since... well, before the war, at any rate.

"Let's go get some air, yeah?" he asked. "We'll go for a walk -- the party's dying down anyway, they won't miss us."

Daphne snorted. As if anyone would miss her. Most of her classmates ignored her just as much as she ignored them. She wiped her eyes. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

"Don't worry," Seamus said, winking. "You don't look as ridiculous as you think you do."

With that, he slipped her arm through his and led her to the hallway.

***

The morning of the 6th of June dawned bright and early -- too early for the hung over eighth year students. Daphne was sure she was the first one awake. The morning sunlight had slipped across the lake and beneath the tree she and Seamus had fallen asleep against.

She stirred, turning her face into the strong shoulder, causing the arm around her waist to tighten. Seamus dropped a kiss onto the top of her hair.

They didn't speak, just watched the sun rise over the mountains, glistening over the still waters.

Daphne had slept straight through the night, free from nightmares for the first time in over a year.

***

"Hermione, wake up."

Someone was poking at her shoulder, and it was rather annoying. She waved a hand at the intruder before resting it back on the warm body next to her. That was odd. It didn't feel like Crookshanks beneath her palm...

Her eyes flashed open. A shock of pale blond hair was the first thing she saw. She yelped, jerked backwards, and landed in a heap on the floor next to the sofa. Looking up, Ginny Weasley smiled down at her.

"Good morning, sunshine," she greeted, her hands on her hips.

"What -- what happened?"

"You fell asleep next to the prat," Ginny replied, offering her a hand up. Hermione moved slowly, her head swimming. "Nothing _happened_ though, if you were worried."

Hermione groaned and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. Pain shot through her head. "Why didn't you stop me?"

"Why should I have? I hadn't seen you laugh like that in months, and it didn't seem like he was going to jinx you or anything.” They looked down at the still sleeping form of Draco Malfoy, and Hermione frowned. He looked younger in his sleep, and coupled with the seemingly decent company he had been, Hermione couldn't find it in her to hate him.

"I don't think I have to worry about that anymore," she said carefully. She hooked her arm through Ginny's. "Let's go before he wakes up."

She glanced over her shoulder as they exited, wondering if this would be the start of something different. After a year of refusing to remember, perhaps she was finally ready to heal.

***

Parvati woke, drifting into consciousness from dreams of ice cream and brown curls. She stretched a hand across her bed, finding only a cold spot, vacated long ago. Fully alert, she sat up, trying not to dwell on the stab of disappointment in her chest.

Once she took a moment to look around, she realized she wasn't in the Gryffindor tower. Navy blue curtains hung from the four poster bed, and the sunlight drifted through the windows from the wrong angle.

"I hope you don't mind," a voice said from across the room, "but I wanted to give you the chance to sleep."

Parvati swiveled to see Mandy sitting at a nearby desk, her dressing gown wrapped tightly around her tall frame. Steam swirled out of two mugs of tea beside her.

"I-- don't mind," Parvati replied in a small voice. She watched as Mandy brought the steaming tea over to her. She gripped the cup carefully as Mandy slid back onto the bed. A memory of Lavender doing the same flashed across her mind, and Parvati faltered. "I... I hope you know I'm not very good -- at this... sort of thing. Not since --"

Mandy nodded. "None of us are. The war left its scars on all of us." She held out her free hand, and Parvati accepted. It was... comfortable. She took a deep breath in, finally able to admit to herself that she could move on.


End file.
